I started off the week €8.08 in the hole, but the purchases were well worth the cost. I made my first trip to Murcia's covered market over the weekend, and after perusing the downstairs (finally found a reliable place to get goat brain) and the upstairs (watched a 60-something red-headed woman use her knife to gesture at the small crowd of people huddled around her selection of preserved fish) I walked out with Murcian pimentón, Calasparra rice and a free churro. On my way to the tourist office to pick up a map, I stumbled upon a local Christmas tradition-a long string of booths featuring lots of nativity figurines, jewelry nearly identical to that found at the Ann Arbor Art Fair, vendors tapping away intently at their smart phones and some artisanal products too. When I realized the price for 500g of Murcia's romero tomillo honey wasn't much higher than the store-brand stuff at the discount supermarket, I handed over €3 and added a jar to my bag.
I had an empanada from my frozen stash lined up for my pre & post work snack, so the only money I shelled out today was at Espinosa Confitería. Twice a week I visit a family in the Barrio del Carmen to help them practice conversational English and Espinosa is a 3 minute walk away. (Talking with the daughter about their holiday dinner traditions led to me ask "so does your grandfather have a favorite butcher where he gets his rabbit?" and her to respond ¨"no, no, my grandfather has a rabbit. So he kills it before we make the paella.") Last week I looked up from my cafè con leche to see a bright yellow packet of cocoa and a glass of hot milk being whisked off the counter. I decided that might just have to be my go-to drink. So, €1.30 it was for a ColaCao of my own.
Yesterday I made a recipe for salsa al limón (below) and back at home after the English lesson I mixed it with the last of my green beans and some toasted marcona almonds.
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| Made Salsa al limón with this |
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| And a dish of green beans.. |
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| With that |
The El Palmar open market is tomorrow morning, and waiting for the water to boil for the beans I was flipping through a couple Murcian cookbooks and dreaming up all sorts of lunch dishes I could make for the three of us. But it turned out Enca already had some of her mom's soup defrosting and that Yolanda gets fish for lunch every Tuesday because that's the day she gets off a little early from work, and her fishmonger awaits her arrival each week. It also turns out she has some extra cauliflower and zucchini she wants me to use up before they go to waste. I already have everything on hand for a coliflor al horno recipe, so my market plan has shifted, and now I have my sights set on jamón, olives and pomegranates. And maybe just one almond shortbread cookie.
Salsa al limón
Ingredients
A couple heaping spoonfuls of finely chopped onion
A heaping spoonful of finely chopped brined caper stems (or capers if you can't find the stems)
A finely chopped hard boiled egg
A heaping spoonful of finely chopped parsley
The juice from half a lemon
Extra virgin olive oil
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. It's pretty tasty right off the bat but the flavors meld a bit more after some time in the fridge.
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